Neverwylde (The Rim of the World Book 4) by Linda Mooney Page B

his feet. “Hurry. Hold onto your bundles and do not move until I give the signal.”
                He hurried over to Kelen and settled himself in front of her. Hunching over, he dropped his head and rested his arms across his knees. Closing his eyes, he waited. Behind him, he felt Kelen get into position so she could quickly flee.
                The room grew quiet. Kyber concentrated on listening for the creatures to come through the doorway. He tried to release the building tension by clenching and unclenching his hands, but by the sounds of the others’ ragged breathing, he could tell they were as nervous as he was.
                There was a movement to his left. Casting an eye in that direction, he noticed Gaveer shifting positions. In any other circumstance, he would take it as someone readjusting themselves in their sleep, but not this time. With their nerves raw and on edge, muscles were on the verge of cramping from the strain.
                He was on the brink of thinking the creatures had changed their minds and decided not to invade, when a clicking sound came from the far wall. Kyber froze. When everything in him wanted him to turn his head and look in that direction, he forced himself to remain as still as possible.
                Their limbs made tapping sounds on the rocky floor as they entered. The noise grew as more of them came through the doorway.
    A creature approached him and Kelen. He couldn’t tell if it was Hoov or another one. It stopped beside him and made clucking noises. Across the room, something clucked back. He sensed another one moving to his left. A shuffling sound came from the dispensing wall. Kyber then realized they were pairing up one of their own for every one of them. They were trying to be as quiet as possible as they moved into position, but they weren’t quiet enough for his Seneecian hearing.
    He took a slow, deep breath and tasted the scents filling the room. How the creatures planned to take them down, if that was their intent—and there was no reason to believe otherwise—was no longer relevant.
                The time to rebel had come.
                Kyber launched himself at the closest alien with a roar of defiance. Almost simultaneously, the others rose to defend themselves. Blasters went off as Kelen and the Terrans fired point blank at the creatures which had clustered around them.
    He slashed at the creature, who stood petrified at the unexpected onslaught. His talons ripped through the thin, armor-like plating covering its body, shredding it and eviscerating it with two swipes. Grabbing one of the thing’s limbs in his mouth, he tore it from the creature’s body with a jerk of his head. The alien screamed, a high-pitched squeal that sent shivers down his spine, and pitched backwards, falling against the wall. When it threw up its arms to stop its fall, Kyber noticed the oddly-shaped claw at the end of both its upper appendages. Claws that were straight and tube-shaped. Claws that had not been there before, and he realized what they were for.
    “They are venomous! Watch out for their stinger!” he yelled. Grabbing a handful of Kelen’s uniform, he pulled her closer and began making his way toward the doorway. She snatched up her bundle of supplies as she followed him.
    The intended ambush was over before the creatures could react. Massapa was first to make it outside of the room. The others quickly joined them, and they peered down the empty corridors.
    Fullgrath stopped next to him. “That was a walk in the park. They never thought we’d hit back, or how hard.”
    “Did you see Hoov among them?” Mellori questioned. No one admitted they did. The engineer shook his head. “Then it’s possible these things were supposed to take us out and report back to Hoov when it was over.”
    “If that is true, we do not have much time,” Kyber announced, turning to Jules. “Lead the way.”
    Jules